Monitoring transport of materials in containers

ABSTRACT

A railcar asset management system proactively issues an alert or task when a pre-determined event occurs. The system may receive information regarding the location and status of a railcar from sensors on the railcar that may include a telematics sensing unit. A database in the railway telematics system stores the data regarding the railcar location and status information. The system determines whether an event has occurred and issues the proactive alerts and/or task. The system may communicate the proactive alert via e-mail, paging, PDAs or by cell phone and may provide interactive preconfigured web pages.

RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a divisional (and claims the benefit of priorityunder 35 USC 121) of U.S. application Ser. No. 13/238,738, filed Sep.21, 2011, now allowed, which is a continuation of U.S. application Ser.No. 11/208,039, filed Aug. 19, 2005, now U.S. Pat. No. 8,045,962, issuedOct. 25, 2011, which claims the benefit to U.S. Provisional ApplicationSer. No. 60/605,218, filed Aug. 27, 2004 and U.S. ProvisionalApplication Ser. No. 60/610,368, filed Sep. 16, 2004. All of these priorapplications are incorporated by reference in their entirety.

TECHNICAL FIELD

This invention relates to a Telematics system that tracks the movement,loading and unloading of railcars throughout a rail system.

BACKGROUND

Just-in-time manufacturing is a popular method of controlling inventorycosts. Just-in-time manufacturing delivers a product from a productmanufacturer to a customer just at the time the customer needs theproduct. This technique is applied across a wide range of products andcan be applied against bulk materials as well as specialty items. Theseproducts may be produced at one location and transported to a distantlocation.

In the case of bulk materials, a shipment is tailored for the mostefficient mode of travel, making the use of a railcar or multiplerailcars a likely option. A railcar is not only a suitable container forshipment, but the railcar also satisfies the requirement for storagesince the railcar approximates the size of a suitable storage vesselcapable of holding a vast amount of product. Customers often takedelivery of a railcar and hold the railcar on their site for storagepurposes, tapping the railcar and removing the product only whenrequired for manufacture.

Such use of railcars causes logistical problems for the productmanufacturer. The customer may hold empty or partially empty railcarsand return the railcars at the customer's convenience. The productmanufacturer will not realize that the railcars are partially emptyuntil the railcars are returned, incurring further costs by taking therailcar off-line for emptying and cleaning when contamination may be anissue. Since the manufacturer must anticipate these situations, themanufacturer will ensure that there are an inflated number of railcarsat its disposal resulting in extra capital costs.

Although the railway companies monitor and know the location of therailcars through proprietary systems such as the Lat-Lon® trackingsystem, there is no affirmative system, for example, that alerts therailway company, the product manufacturer or the customer, that arailcar is sitting in one location for an extended period of time, evenwhen that railcar is empty at a customer's site.

Therefore, a need exists for an integrated Telematics system to providethe information technology to assist in monitoring and managing therailcars to provide an optimum flow of product from the manufacturer tothe customer.

BRIEF SUMMARY

The Railcar Telematics System (“System”) controls product flow inrailcars between a product manufacturer and a customer. The System mayidentify business events and issue proactive alerts and tasks toaffected business users. The users may then resolve any problems andperform any business task that is impeding or delaying the railcarduring its roundtrip cycle to the customer and back to the productmanufacturer.

In an embodiment, the System may receive transmitted data regarding therailcar weight, indicating the amount of product on the railcar, theproduct temperature, the ambient temperature surrounding the railcar,the product pressure, the condition of seals on the valves or hatches,and other pertinent information to the customer or manufacturer. TheSystem stores the sensor information or data in a database that may beavailable to the user.

In a preferred embodiment, the business alert engine processes thesensor information stored in the database for comparison to the metricsof the business rules. The business alert engine optionally supplementsthe sensor data with information regarding the ordering information andstores the supplemental data in the database as well. The business alertengine then compares the supplemented data against the metrics in thebusiness rules. When a threshold of a metric is exceeded, a proactivealert regarding that metric is issued. Further, a metric for a businessrule might indicate a task needs to be performed. This may result from abusiness event such as the delivery of a railcar to a customer. In sucha case, the business alert engine determines that the metric regardingthe event has been satisfied and issues a proactive alert or task to abusiness user or a business enterprise resource planning (“ERP”) system.The business user will then take appropriate measures in response.

In one embodiment, the business alert engine may react to dataassociated representative of a business event, such as idle railcars, byissuing proactive alerts to an individual business user foracknowledgement and resolution of this event. The proactive alert makesthe business user aware of an impending event or otherwise issues a taskfor the user to perform. Once alerted, the user may take action, toresolve the alert or perform the task, increasing the efficient use ofthe railcar and provide a quality service for both the user andsupplier. Further, the system may be configured to report the real-timelocation and status of a particular railcar or group of railcars withoutwaiting for the system to provide a batch/timed updated status. Abatch/timed update may be a railcar information update, such as a statusupdate, that occurs at predetermined times or intervals.

In another embodiment, the business alert engine may generate proactivealerts to the business user. The business user may be the productmanufacturer, shipper or the customer. The user may proactivelyimplement any corrective step upon receipt of the alert, ensuring thatthe railcar and product arrive at the destination on-time. Proactivealerts may be generated because any of the following events orconditions have occurred: the railcar is damaged; the railcar isdiverted to another destination; the railcar has been subjected toextreme temperatures; the seal on the railcar is damaged; the railcarhas impacted another railcar at an unacceptable speed; the railcar issitting idle for too long a period; or for any other reason.

In another aspect, the Railcar Telematics System may be tailored to theresponsibilities of the individual business user. In one embodiment, awebsite, configured and tailored to a particular user, is made availableto a customer, a customer representative, and others who may be closelyassociated with a railcar. The business user can include maintenancepersonnel, railcar schedulers and product manufacturers. Each businessuser sees the data, metrics, tasks and proactive alerts in views thathave a varying level of detail and that may be configured in viewstailored to the business user's responsibilities. If the informationdisplayed on the web page does not provide enough detail, the user willbe able to drill down on the linked data to obtain more detailedinformation in another view. For example, the user may first view asummary sheet regarding the round trip of a railcar between the productmanufacturer and the customer. The website view may allow the user tolink to more specific and detailed information regarding the roundtrip.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 depicts a block diagram of a Railcar Telematics System.

FIG. 2 depicts different communication environments for a RailcarTelematics System.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of another embodiment of the RailcarTelematics System.

FIG. 4 is a web page view of a business user interface.

FIG. 5 is a web page summary view for Product Status.

FIG. 6 is a web page view of a Bill of Lading.

FIG. 7 is a web page view of a roundtrip cycle of a railcar.

FIG. 8 is a web page view of a different roundtrip cycle of a railcar.

FIG. 9 is a web page view of a Weight Trip Report.

FIG. 10 is a web page view of an In-Transit Detail Report.

FIG. 11 is a web page view of an Impact Detail Report.

FIG. 12 is a Large Screened User Interface.

FIG. 13 is a Large Screen User Interface displaying a satellite view.

FIG. 14 is a Large Screen User Interface displaying multiple web pageviews.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The elements that are illustrated in the above figures will be explainedin more detail in the following discussion. However, it is noted thatthe following discussion is exemplary and is not limited to theembodiments that are described. For example, although selected aspects,features or components of the implementations are depicted as stored inprogram, data, or multipurpose system memories, all or parts of thesystem and methods consistent with the Railcar Telematics System may bestored on or read from other machine-readable media, for example,secondary storage devices such as hard disks, floppy disks, and CD-ROMs;electromagnetic signals; or other forms of machine readable media eithercurrently known or later developed.

Although this specification describes specific components of a RailcarTelematics System, methods, systems and articles of manufactureconsistent with the Railcar Telematics System may include additional ordifferent components. For example, a processor may be implemented as amicroprocessor, microcontroller, application specific integrated circuit(ASIC), discrete logic, or a combination of other types of circuitsacting as explained above. The communication system may be a privatedata network or a cellular telephone system and may include the Internetor any future communication system that might provide the communicationsfor voice and/or data. The databases, tables, business rules and otherdata structures may be separately stored and managed, incorporated intoa single memory or database, or generally logically and physicallyorganized in many different ways. The programs, such as the proactivebusiness across several memories and processors.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram a Railcar Telematics System. The RailcarTelematics System 100 may include a database server such as a MicrosoftSQL Server 110, or other Relational Database Management System that mayinclude a railcar database 101. The System may also include a BusinessAlert Engine 120 with executable instructions that configures a dataprocessor in communication with the databases on the Server 110 andcommunicates information for a business user to a Web Site 130. The WebSite 130 may have access to and overlap either the Arial satellitephotographs 210 provided alert engine discussed below may be part of asingle program, separate programs, or distributed by a TerraServer®system or an external mapping source 220 provided by a MapPoint® systemfor displaying the locations of the railcars 300.

The server 110 may communicate unidirectionally or bidirectionally withthe railcars using the Railcar Telematics system 100. The RailcarTelematics System 100 will query the railcars 300 through acommunication system interface such as a Telematics web service host 150and a Car Location Message (“CLM”) web service host 140. The CLM webservice host 140 connects to CLM Data Aggregators 230. The CLM DataAggregators 230 assemble the data received from an Automatic EquipmentIdentification Reader Network 240. This network 240 has sensors orreaders (not shown) along the railway system that sense or read theinformation from a radio frequency identification (“RFID”) tag (notshown) that is attached to a passing railcar 300.

A Telematics Sensing Unit 310, shown in FIG. 2, may attach to therailcar 300. The Sensing Unit 310 senses different conditions relevantto the state of the railcar 300 and to the product that the railcar 300contains. FIG. 2 shows optional features of equipment 200 that may beincluded in the Railcar Telematics System. The optional features of theTelematics Sensing Unit 310 may include data storage, global positioningfor determining location and a transceiver unit for communicating theinformation to the Railcar Telematics System.

Communication options include satellite systems, cellular telephone andprivate RF network communications. The Telematics System may interfacewith Enterprise Resource Planning (“ERP systems”) thus becoming a partof the Enterprise system. Such a system may interface with BusinessSupport systems for Billing and Inventory Management purposes.

The Railcar Sensor unit 310 may wirelessly transmit sensor informationto a Wireless Communication Network 250 as illustrated in FIG. 1. TheNetwork 250 communicates the sensor data, including the status andlocation of the railcar 300, to a Telematics Equipment Vendor 260. TheVendor 260 may communicate the data to the Telematics Web Service Host150 within the Railcar Telematics System 100.

The Business Alert Engine 120 may include one or more metrics or sets ofmetrics that define the Business Rules 121, the Proactive Alert BusinessLogic 122, the Business Logic Center 123 and the External DeviceInterface 124. The External Device Interface 124 connects to outsidecommercial communication systems 400 that will communicate the proactivealerts in voice or text messaging in real-time to the business user 500or responsible party via paging, cell phones or PDAs.

The Web Site 130 includes a User Interface Controller 131, a BusinessComponents Data Access 132, and Security and Administration Instructions133. The Business User 500 accesses the Web Site 130 allowing the userto view the portion of the data that has been configured for thebusiness user 500.

The Railcar Telematics System 100 may proactively manage the railcarasset. The business alert engine 120 processes existing data about thestatus of the product and the location and status of the railcar 300,analyzes the raw data against the product ordering requirements receivedfrom the ERP 160 and configures the data into potential business events.The business alert engine 120 may compare or evaluate the events and theinformation received from the sensors against pre-existing metricsdefined in the business rules. If the business alert engine determinesan event has occurred from comparison with the metrics, it may issuetasks and/or proactive alerts.

The Railcar Telematics System 100 may receive real-time telemetry dataregarding information about the railcar from the mobile TelematicsSensing Unit 310. The telemetry data provides sensor readings thatinclude the location and weight of the railcar, temperature, and impactforces that the railcar endured and any other information that thebusiness user may request or specify. The mobile Telematics Sensor Unit310 may include a geo-sensing unit for obtaining the locationinformation. The mobile Telematics Sensor Unit 310 communicates thelocation information and sensor readings through the communicationssystems 250. The communications system 250 may include a satellitesystem, a cellular phone system, a private communication system, orother communication system. This location information and the sensorreadings are transmitted from the communication system 250 through aTelematics Equipment vendor 260 as shown in FIG. 1 to the RailcarTelematics system 100.

In one implementation, the information may originate from the RFID tagas the railcar 300 passes by a sensor and from the mobile TelematicsUnit 310 attached to the railcar 300. The RFID tag providesinformational data relating to the identity of the railcar 300 as itpasses the RFID readers located along designated points of the railwaysystem. This information is fed through an Automatic EquipmentIdentifier Reader network and to the database in the Railcar TelematicsSystem. The RFID readers are also known as RFID sensors, and the termsare used interchangeably throughout this specification.

In FIG. 3, the CLM 140, the Telematics Web Service 150 and the “ERPSystem Web Service (i.e. SAP® enterprise business software) 160communicate data to the Railcar database 101. Tables in the Railcardatabase 101 may organize the information in the database 101. Thetables may include a tblCLM (“CLM Table”) 112, a tblTelematicsData(“Telematics Table”) 113, a tblTrip (“Trip Table”) 111, a tblAlert Param(“Alert Parameter Table”) 114, a tblAlertParent (“Parent Alert Table”)115 and a tblAlertChild (“Child Alert Table”) 116 table.

The data in the CLM Table 112 includes CLM information received fromsensors reading the RFID tags related to the current trip of the railcar300. Other information in the table may include the estimated time ofarrival (“ETA”) at the destination as posted by the rail system, theresponsible party for the railcar and the date and time each sensor waspassed.

The data received from the Telematics sensor unit 310 is stored in theTelematics Table 113. Each message received from the Telematics Sensorunit 310 creates an entry in the Telematics Table 113. Information suchas the geo-position, temperature, heading, speed, weight and anyimpact-related information such as gravitational (“G” forces) and thedirection of the “G” forces are recorded in the Telematics table 113.

Data regarding the product, including origin, destination, planned timefor departure and the actual departure time, may be stored in the TripTable 111. The data in the Trip table 111 may be general businessinformation regarding the product. The general business information mayspecify the parameters of the trip, which may be the end-to-end tripcycle of the railcar. As the railcar 300 progresses through the tripcycle, it may incur events. These events may occur at the loading stageat the manufacturer's site, through the transit cycle to the customersite, at the customer site where the railcar 300 is unloaded and uponthe trip back to the manufacturer where the railcar 300 may be processedand loaded. Events may include the multiple times that the RFID tags aresensed as the railcar 300 travels to the customer site. The businessalert engine 120 may receive, derive, or configure information such asthe estimated time of arrival, date for unloading and total trip length.The business alert engine may update the information in the Trip table111.

The location information data received from the CLM Web service may bestored in the CLM Table 112. The data received from the Telematics WebService 150 may be stored in the Telematics Table 113. The dataregarding the business information received from the ERP System may bestored in the Trip Table 111 in the database 101. The Railcar Telematicssystem 100 analyzes this data, categorizes it and conditions the datafor viewing, for example when the business user so requests. Whencategorizing, the business alert engine may place the configured datainto other tables for further processing and for simplification of thesystem. The data may be viewed when the business user makes a requestthrough an interactive display.

The business alert engine 120 may be a software module that monitorsmultiple data streams for business events and trends. In oneimplementation, the business alert engine utilizing the data processormay analyze or evaluate the discrete telematics sensor data stored inthe database 101 to determine business impacting events and relatedtrends and alert the responsible user when the events and trends exceedpredetermined threshold values. During a trip, the business alert engine120 may sense the temperature of a product while the railcar 300 is intransit. The business alert engine may make a historical record of thetemperature and locate the data in a historical temperature record. Thisinformation will be available to the business user at a later time ifneeded.

In an alternative implementation, the business alert engine 120 may usethe historical record for any sensor to establish a business impacttrend. If a trend is established, the business alert engine 120 notifiesthe responsible party or user of the severity of the trend. The businessalert engine may use a pre-determined method for communicating theproactive alert via e-mail, paging or phone.

The alert engine 120 operates in two processing modes. The first mode isa real-time mode and the second mode is a batch/timed mode. In thereal-time mode, as information or events are received from the railcar,the data is stored in the database as raw data. The business alertengine 120 may categorize the data based upon the business informationin the Trip table 111. The business alert engine may compare orassociate the raw data and the categorized data to the metrics of thebusiness rules to determine if a business impacting event exists. If theassociation or comparison determines that a business impacting eventexists, then the business alert engine 120 issues a proactive alert ortask. For example, if the temperature of a product has reached orexceeded a threshold, either a high or low temperature, then thebusiness alert engine 120 may issue a proactive alert for the elevatedor reduced temperature.

In the batch/timed process, the business alert engine 120 will compareselected data to the metrics of the business rules at a particular time.The batch process may execute at one or more pre-selected times and/ordates, regular intervals and/or irregular intervals, or according to anyother schedule. For instance, in the preceding temperature example, thealert in a parent alert table and a child alert table, both to bediscussed later, may be checked at a pre-configured time to determine ifthe alert has been acknowledged or resolved. If not, the alert enginewill update the proactive alert. If no one has acknowledged or resolvedthe alert after several or some pre-determined number of batch cycles,the business alert engine 120 may continue to escalate the proactivealert to other business users until all responsible users have beennotified.

The alert thresholds may be stored in the database 101, and in oneembodiment, they are stored in the Parameter Alert table 114 as shown inFIG. 3. In the Real-time processing mode, the business alert engine 120analyzes individual messages from the Telematics Sensing Units 310 andthe data is compared to the alert thresholds in the Parameter Alerttable 114. Some sensor data, such as temperature, may cause a real-timeproactive alert to be issued.

In one embodiment, a business event such as a railcar with an RFID tagread by a RFID sensor may give rise to the issuance of a proactive alertand/or task requiring the appropriate business user to respond byperforming some function such as issuing an invoice. The location of theRFID sensor may designate a geo-boundary, a geographical location thatwhen the railcar passes that particular sensor, constitutes an entryonto the customer's site. In another embodiment, the same businessevent, rather than alerting a business user to prepare and send aninvoice after a railcar has passed the sensor, may send the invoice, ordirect an ERP System to send the invoice directly to the customer.Alternatively, this task may be issued in the batch/timed process ratherthan a real-time process. In addition, the business alert engine 120 maydetermine that the sensor was crossed by comparing the raw data thatrelates the trip information and determine that a boundary was crossed.Once the boundary is crossed, the business alert engine 120 may send aninvoice.

In another embodiment, the invoice may be sent after the railcar wastapped rather than passing a sensor bordering the customer's property.This technique may be lucrative for either the customer or the productmanufacturer where the agreement between them is for a spot price of theproduct rather than a contractual term price. If the price rises, thenthe manufacturer receives more money for the product when the customertaps the railcar. The sensors may determine the time when the railcarwas tapped. If the price should drop, it is to the benefit of thecustomer.

When the business alert engine issues a proactive alert as a result of aspecific sensor reading or business impact event, it may create a ParentAlert Table, for example, the tblParentAlert 115 in FIG. 3. The ParentAlert Table 115 may contain the information regarding the specific alertand a record of the status, whether the alert has been acknowledged orresolved. The Parent Alert Table 115 may also include the assetidentification, the type and severity of the alert, the date and timethe alert occurred, and the responsible party to be contacted.

A second table, known as the Child Alert Table 116, may also be createdas shown by tblChildAlert 116 in FIG. 3. The Child Alert Table 116includes the specific contents of the alert such as the value of thethreshold parameter or the sensor reading at the time of the alert. Itincludes the role of the user or responsible party who receives theproactive alert and it contains the date and time stamp of the alert. Insome cases, when the alert has been issued as a result of a batchprocess, to be discussed further, the Child Alert Table 116 will containthe subsequent date and time stamps and the value of the sensor at thatparticular time.

The business alert engine 120 may continually issue alerts due to thenon-responsiveness of the business user(s) who were sent the initialalert. For example, when the business alert engine 120, during thebatch/timed process, determines that a previously issued alert was notresolved or acknowledged, the business alert engine 120 may create asubsequent entry in the Child Alert Table 116 indicating the fact thatthere has been no response. A subsequent entry in the Child Alert Tablemay be an additional row containing the updated information concerningthe alert. Should the business alert engine continue to determine a lackof acknowledgement or resolution as the batched/timed process cycles,the subsequent entries will eventually include another user orresponsible party to be notified. The new responsible party may be asupervisor of the original business user. The escalation of the alertprocess may continue until either the alert is acknowledge and/orresolved or until all responsible users have been notified. During thistime, the original alert is still valid, but it is the new piece of datasubsequently entered into the Child Alert Table 116, thenon-responsiveness to the previous alerts, that triggers the follow-onalerts.

In another example, after a proactive alert has issued, a condition mayhave worsened and another threshold may have been exceeded. In the hightemperature example above, the Parent Alert Table 115 and the ChildAlert Table 116 were issued. If the temperature continues to rise, thenthe sensor reading may match or exceed the next threshold level storedin the Alert Parameter Table 114. At that time, a subsequent entry willbe issued by the business alert engine 120 by entering a row into theChild Alert Table 116 containing the specifics of the alert. Thisproactive alert is issued during a real-time process.

By way of example, if the first responsible party does not respond, asubsequent entry is made in the Child Alert Table 116 and the proactivealert issues to another responsible party, preferably to the firstresponsible party's supervisor or co-worker. The process of creating thesubsequent entry may be the addition of a row with the inclusion of thenew responsible party and the reason for the new proactive alert.

The new proactive alert may be further monitored by the batch process.If no acknowledgement or resolution is registered in the Parent AlertTable 115 for this alert at the pre-determined time, a subsequent entrywill be made in the Child Alert Table 116 as another proactive alert isissued. If there continues to be no response, the alert status will onceagain escalate as before. The responsible party contacted will escalateas well as the severity of the alert.

When the proactive alert is acknowledged or resolved, the status of theChild Alert Tables 116 that are issued to the multiple business userschanges. When one user or responsible party resolves the alert, theresolved status may be set to “True” for all of the alerts associatedwith that Parent Alert Table 115. All of the users who received thealert will see the updated status.

Further, a user does not have to resolve the alert in order for thealert to be resolved. The condition that was responsible for the alertmay have corrected itself, may have been corrected by a third party, ormay have been resolved in other manners or by other parties. The sensorresponsible for the original alert may now be at an acceptable level,meaning that the threshold in the Alert Parameter Table 114 is no longerexceeded or violated. In other words, the sensor has resolved thecondition and acknowledged the alert. By way of example, the elevatedtemperature of the product in the railcar may have dropped below thethreshold with no need for the user to take any action.

In another example, the alert may be acknowledged but it is notresolved. For example, no action has been taken to resolve the alertcondition for some period of time after an acknowledgement was made. Thelack of the action, or resolving, drives the batch process of thebusiness alert engine 120 to issue a subsequent entry in the Child AlertTable 116. Again, the subsequent alert levels may be escalated both inseverity and in the level of responsible party notified until all theusers have been notified or until the alert has been resolved.

Other information that may be matched to the sensor data in theproactive alert messages are the upper/lower level thresholds and theresponsible party such as the Plant, Sales, Safety, CustomerRepresentative, etc. Also, the alert may be associated with a home baseor plant and a product type. The method of the alert delivery mechanismmay also be defined for the particular alert such as notifying theresponsible party via paging, e-mail or telephone call. Also, when theuser logs into the configured web page, he may be notified of theproactive alert.

By way of example, when a temperature exceeds 200 degrees F. for ProductB, the telemetry unit will send the data information via the TelematicsSensor unit 310. The message may include such information as the GPS,weight and tank temperature. The business alert engine 120 reads thetelemetry message, and since excessive temperature was not previously aconcern, the business alert engine 120 will consider each data value asa potential alert and will store all of the potential alerts in thedatabase 101. The temperature value is compared against both a lower andupper threshold boundary in the Alert Parameter table 114. In ourexample, 200 degrees F. is a recognized alert threshold, so there is amatch. Other information may be matched before the alert is confirmedand issued such as the role of the business user to be notified and theproduct type.

The temperature may drop on the next reading, resolving the alert beforeanyone takes action. However, there is a potential that the temperaturemay rise once again, dropping below the alert threshold value on thevery next reading. The repetitive nature of the event may be relevant tothe shipper, customer or product manufacturer. This repetitive event maybe monitored by thresholds in the Alert Parameter table 114. If thealert reaches a particular value of repetitiveness and the metric ismatched, a proactive alert will be issued for a repetitive alert in thesame procedure as described earlier.

At any time, a user may assign the responsibilities for an alert toanother user. When an alert becomes active, the action will cause a newChild Alert Table 116 to be generated for the assigned user. The usermay re-assign this responsibility by selecting a graphical icon marked,by way of example, a “Reassign Alert” icon (not shown) in the graphicalinterface of the web user interface 131.

Further, some alerts may have little significance for a given time frameor the system may be burdened with alerts that have a low priority whencompared to an ongoing major issue. In that case, a super-user maycancel those alerts that are deemed inappropriate for the given set ofcircumstances. Alternatively, the super-user may implement a change tothe metric of the business rules so that the number of proactive alertscorresponding to that metric is reduced. In some cases, the businessrules may implement a change to the metric when a successful response tothe proactive alert is achieved. This process may require the approvalfrom the super-user before the implementation is processed.

There are a various number of alerts that the Alert Parameter table 114will monitor. A sampling of these alerts is listed in Table 1 with abrief description of the alert. Some of the alerts may be sensor-relatedindicating the status of the product or the railcar 300. Many otheralerts are business impact events, thus driving the system to controland manage the use of the assets to maximize delivery of the product.The list may contain any number of proactive alerts in an implementationand the listing is not exhaustive by any means. It is dependent upon anumber of factors such as the business unit, the fleet, the producttype, the customer, and the site.

TABLE 1 Typical System Alerts 1 Alert of Idle Car Through theapplication business rule capability, users are notified immediately ofcar idle times outside of the maximum tolerance. With appropriateaction, this reduces trip delays, as well as opportunity to reducedemurrage charges. 2 Alert on Placement Create system-generated alertsnotifying users of car placement at the site(plant/customer/terminal/storage). These alerts can be based on both CLMevent placement codes and/or configured geo-fence parameters. 3 Alert onSensors Create system-generated alerts on sensor readings outside ofbusiness- outside threshold (incl. defined thresholds. These alerts canbe routed to specific users based on Derailment) their role orcustomized preferences (including Emergency response personnel forderailments). 4 Alert on Misrouted Create system-generated alertsnotifying users of misrouted cars. Initially, Cars the application willgenerate these alerts based on comparison to the BOL versus customergeo-fence and the ETA. Once the system captures route history formultiple trips, business rule capability is used to determine a mis-route before the railcar ventures too far from the customer site.Additionally, misroute status information can be received as a locationupdate from RoadRunner ™. 5 Alert on multiple taps Createsystem-generated alerts on multiple unload sensor readings on cars withthe same product grade/type inside a terminal geo-fence. These alertscan be routed to specific terminal coordinators and helps them enforcethe FIFO policy within terminals. 6 Alert on Anticipated Createsystem-generated alerts for users, including Customers, Terminal LateArrivals Coordinators and Customer representatives, when a specificrailcar's ETA occurs after the SAP order's requested delivery date. 7Alert on leaking/ Create system-generated alerts on unload sensorreadings outside of a vandalized cars specified geo-fence. These alertsinform Health & Safety users that are interested in real-timenotification of significant car weight loss during the in-transitportion of the trip. This could be an indication of a leak or vandalism.8 Alert on Inventory Create system-generated alerts when target productinventory levels within a Events customer or terminal geo-fence reacheither the minimum or maximum thresholds. 9 Alert on Bad Ordered Createsystem-generated alerts for notifying the users of bad-ordered cars.Cars This information may allow users to divert another loaded car tothe customer alleviating a possible disruption in product delivery. 10Alert on Geographic Create system-generated alerts notifying a user whena car enters or leaves a Areas specific geographic area. This providesthe capability to monitor and proactively manage the movements ofspecific cars. 11 Alert on Flagged Car The application alerts site userswhen a car is inbound to their site that has Returning been flagged forinspection (flag is part of car status). 12 Alert on Response to After auser assigns a note/comment to another user for follow-up and thatNote/Comment user has responded, the first user will receivenotification. This will save time spent in checking for a response untila response has been given.

Equally important are the proactive alerts that are issued when trendsare developing. By way of example, a customer may suddenly increase thenumber of days to unload a product from a railcar. Or in anotherexample, the customer begins to regularly return a heel of product inthe railcar or greater amounts of a heel are present more often than thehistorical data indicates. Any trend that takes away from or detractsfrom a constant improvement in the use of the railcar can be monitoredby placing the appropriate threshold metric in the Parameter Alert Table114. Upon comparison to the historical data, a proactive alert may beissued should a trend be established by either the real-time orbatch/timed process of the business alert engine 120.

In one embodiment, it may be desirable to predict an Estimated Time ofArrival (“ETA”) for any of the railcars 300 that may be in the railwaysystem. The ETA is desirable not only for those railcars 300 routed to acustomer but for those railcars 300 that are returning to the productmanufacturer. The ETA is derived from historical data based on the sametrip or from the CLM data issued by the railroad and the ETA isroutinely updated by the business alert engine 120. The ETA is analyzedby the business alert engine 120 to determine the proper timing forshipping subsequent railcars 300 to the customer.

In an implementation, the business alert engine may obtain the ETA datafrom the CLM table 112 and compare the ETA to the delivery date requiredby the customer and stored in the Trip table 111. If the ETA extendsbeyond the delivery date, a proactive alert may issue in the mannerdescribed earlier. The criticality of the proactive alert maycontinually escalate as the lack of delivery approaches a criticalstage.

Information in the CLM Table 112 establishes the position of the railcar300. The information is received from RFID sensors along the railwaythat sense the RFID tag on the railcar. The location of some of the RFIDsensors may mark a boundary that establishes a geo-reference orgeo-fence. When the railcar has passed the sensor referencing ageo-fence, the business alert engine 120 will take notice when theinformation is communicated.

If the Telematics Monitoring Sensor 310 has a GPS system, the embeddedcomputer may be able to calculate the location with respect to thegeo-boundaries. The Sensor 310 may transmit the passing of thelatitude/longitude position to the System 101 where the event will bestored in the Telematics Table 113. The business alert engine 120 willnote the event and transmit the proactive alert/task. Alternatively, theSensor 310 may transmit only the present coordinates defining theposition of the railcar 300. The business alert engine 120 willcalculate the location and compare that location to the geo-boundariesstored in the Trip Table 111. When the system evaluates the presentlocation against the geo-boundary and finds a match, the business alertengine may then issue the proactive alert/task.

A geo-boundary may be defined by a series of known sensors such as thoseRFID sensors surrounding a customer site. Likewise, a geo-path is astring of sensors along a railway path to a particular destination. Thelocations of these predefined sensors or latitude/longitude coordinatesare stored in the System, preferably the Trip Table 111.

In one implementation, the Business Alert engine 120 may apply businessrules to the load sensor readings from the railcar 300 to determine therailcar unload or tapped status. If the customer participates in avendor inventory management (“VIM”) program, the vendor or productmanufacturer will depend on the sensors for inventory management. Thesensor information may be fed to an electronic VIM system, if available,as part of an on-site inventory monitoring capability. The VIM is aninventory control system that monitors the inventory levels at acustomer. When inventory levels drop to a certain point, the vendor willorder more product. A VIM system relieves the customer of thatresponsibility. A VIM system reduces the manpower that is required to goout and check each of the railcars 300 for inventory purposes. The VIMsystem may be tied into or be a part of an ERP system and/or the RailcarTelematics system.

In monitoring the inventory, the user has access to data that indicatesthe number of times the customer taps the railcar. Coupled with theconstant monitoring of the weight, the customer service representativehas access to determine where the inventory of the product residesincluding the railcars 300 that are returning to the productmanufacturer's site. The tapped status may also be determined bycomparing the current weight of the railcar 300 with the past weight.

By way of example, a railcar 300 may have 25% of the product remainingon board. If this product were being returned to the productmanufacturer, the manufacturer might consider this amount, the heel ofthe product. The manufacturer may also consider the heel waste product.The business rules may have a metric that would cause a proactive alertto issue when a large amount of heel is contained on the railcar 300.Further, if the weight of the railcar were steadily decreasing as thecustomer unloaded and then for no apparent reason increased, thebusiness alert engine 120 may issue a proactive alert indicating to theproduct manufacturer that a possible contamination of the railcaroccurred.

By monitoring the location of the railcars and the amount of productthat is carried and/or stored in the railcars 300, a real-time pictureof the inventory assets will be available to the business users. TheBusiness Alert Engine 120 may apply this information against thebusiness rules to control and manage the assets in a cost effectivemanner. The railcar telematics system will monitor product usage by thecustomer in order to time future deliveries and to adjust the productmanufacturer's assets accordingly.

Historically, much of the information regarding the product and itsusage was provided by the customer and the reliability of theinformation could be questioned. For example, a product may be deliveredon consignment and the market price is determined on a daily basis. Theprice of the material may depend upon the market forces at the time thecustomer tapped into the railcar 300 to withdraw the product. Knowingthe exact time may be crucial for billing purposes and sending anaccurate bill. Sensors on the valves or hatches of the railcars 300 mayindicate the time that the tapping of the railcar 300 occurred andestablish a proper time.

Account managers and Terminal Coordinators are provided access to theamount of product inventory and the location and status of the railcarsunder their control. The Business Alert Engine 120 assembles the data inreal-time and configures the data into a view for the particularbusiness user. For example, an account manager or terminal coordinatorwould only see the views for the product that impacts their operation.

The same is true for a customer. The customer will only see theinformation for the railcars that are transporting the product that thecustomer ordered. All other data regarding the shipments not affectingthe customer will not be provided.

The Business managers may have key metrics or Key Performance Indicators(“KPI”) by which they measure the efficiency of a business. These arethe KPIs that drive performance and profitability. They may include:railcar turns, on-time deliveries, inventory levels, on-site/in-transitcar ratios and other important parameters that drive profitability andcustomer satisfaction.

A listing of some of the information provided by the Railcar TelematicsSystem is shown in Table 2. This information includes the function thatwill be provided by the system as well as an explanation of thosefunctions. This listing is not all encompassing, but may be tailored tothe specific application of a customer, a product, a manufacturer, or atransportation system providing the business user with the elements thatmay be most important to their application.

TABLE 2 Applications of The Railcar Telematics System 1 Notify CarUnload The application uses the telematics load sensor readings orelectronic seal readings, along with corresponding business rules todetermine car unload or tapped status at a vendor managed inventory(VMI) customer location. This is information is provided to the ERPsystem as part of the on-site inventory monitoring capability. 2 ReceiveCLM The application receives event-based CLM data from a third party CLMInformation aggregator to supplement the telematics locationinformation. The CLM data provides input on railroad activity, as wellas railroad ownership of the car at any point in time (with theexception of customer/terminal/plant sites). 3 Notify Car Load Theapplication uses the telematics load sensor readings, along withcorresponding business rules, to determine carload status at a plantsite location. This information is provided to the ERP system inpreparation for car shipment. 4 Send Invoice Initiation The applicationuses the telematics load sensor readings, along with correspondingbusiness rules, to determine car unload or tapped status at a customerlocation. This information is fed to the ERP system and automaticallyinitiates a customer invoice. 5 Create Demurrage The application usesthe telematics location/geo-fence readings, along with Invoicecorresponding business rules, to determine the duration of idle times atcustomer locations. This information is to the ERP system to initiate acustomer invoice for idle times over contractual limits. 6 Create FOBInvoice The application uses the telematics location/geo-fence readings,along with corresponding business rules, to determine when a car entersa particular area of interest. This information is provided to the ERPsystem to initiate a FOB (Free on Board) invoice after crossing ageo-boundary. 7 Report on Customer Account Mangers and Customers defineproduct usage metrics and the Usage information that is tracked at acustomer site. The application determines customer usage based ondepletion of car inventory over time by using the load sensor readingsand corresponding application business rules. Typically, thisinformation is only available from the customer and is not available asa real-time reporting capability. 8 Provide Usage History Theapplication uses the telematics load sensor readings, along withcorresponding application business rules, to determine customer usagehistory. This information is provided to the manufacturing enterprisesystems as an input to the forecasting models. 9 Determine Geo- Ageo-boundary can be determined for existing, new, and modified customerboundaries deliveries automatically. The process for determining thegeo-boundary can be automated by examining the ship-to address oncritical delivery documentation, such as a BOL or invoice.Geo-boundaries can be manually modified as necessary. 10 Send RouteTransit The application determines accurate route transit times. Thisinformation Time may be provided to enterprise systems to continuallyupdate route transit times with real-time data. 11 Maintain Key BusinessManagers have key metrics and targets that are tracked. They PerformanceIndicators include: rail turns, on-time deliveries, inventory levels,on-site/in-transit car ratios, etc. The application stores the targetvalues indicating whether users are properly managing their portion ofthe rail cycle. 12 Maintain Inventory Account Managers and TerminalCoordinators manage targeted product Thresholds inventories at customerand terminal locations. The application stores minimum and maximumvalues as threshold indicators of business action. This information,coupled with the customer usage history, assists the management ofinventory flow at the shipping terminals and customer facilities. 13Maintain Alert The application stores pre-determined alert thresholdsserving as indicators Thresholds of business actions for each of thetelemetry sensors deployed. Alert thresholds vary depending on businessorganization, fleet composition, product types, customer, manufacturingsite, etc. The thresholds provide baseline alerts for particular rolesand can be supplemented with customized alert thresholds. 14 SensorThreshold The application notifies the Health & Safety system when anabnormal Exceeded reading is detected from a railcar indicating apossible health or safety problem. 15 Geo-Lane Management Theapplication will allow the user to configure Geo-lanes, or Geo-paths,for railcars traveling along designated routes. Geo-lanes are composedof multiple sets of latitude/longitude coordinates along the railroutes. When a railcar carrying hazardous materials deviates from thedesignated route, an alert may be sent to a list of users.

In one embodiment, the Railcar Telematics system may provide thebusiness user 500 with a view for the status of the railcar 300 throughthe Web Site 130 in real-time. There are many different business userswho will have a view of the Web Site 130 configured for the informationthat is relevant to the user's purpose and responsibilities. Options forthe different scenarios of the views may be selected from a Web Site 130as shown in FIG. 4. FIG. 4 shows a web page view that is visible whenthe user signs-in. The user will click on one of the icons or the linkeduser description to proceed to the appropriate view such as the “AccountManager/Sales Rep” icon 135. In another example, a customer will selectthe “Customer/Terminal” icon 137 and will have a view of the railcarsand product status that are designated for the customer's use. That samecustomer will not be able to view the railcars 300 that are designatedfor another customer, especially one who may be a competitor.

In the “Customer Service Rep” view 136 or “Account Manager/Sales Rep”view 135, information for many customers would be relevant to theresponsibility of that class. For example, an account manager mightdetermine that a customer is running short of product and faces animminent shutdown. The account manager has the option to divert arailcar 300 intended for delivery from one customer to another to makeup the shortfall. This is information that may be restricted from thecustomers' views, and the Telematics application software will restrictsuch views to the appropriate user.

When the customer service representative 136 selects a view, therepresentative may see the view 136 displaying relevant information forProduct D as illustrated in FIG. 5. FIG. 5 is a spreadsheet thatdisplays the order number 1361, the site 1362 where the product isproduced, the customer 1363, the Bill of Lading 1364, the railcar 1365associated with the Bill of Lading and the alert status column 1366 foreach shipment regarding Product D. This view may display informationregarding Product D for several customers, and as briefly describedearlier, this web page would not be accessible for viewing by thecustomers.

Also in the Product D view 136, a proactive alert 600 is active for therailcar ACNX120. Displaying the alert in the view 136, is another methodof informing the responsible business user that a proactive alert hasbeen issued. Here, the alert 600 is for a railcar that is assigned todeliver Product D to company XYZ, Inc. In this embodiment, the businessuser may click on the alert to display or drill down to obtain a pagewith more detailed information regarding the alert.

Alternatively, the customer service representative may click or drilldown into information regarding a Bill of Lading 1364. FIG. 6illustrates a view 137 of a typical Bill of Lading. The format for theBill of Lading can be tailored to the manufacturer's needs or even thecustomer's needs if so requested.

Other views on the Web Site may be tailored to the requirements as wellas the classification of business user. Table 3 presents a listing ofsome of the aggregations of possible views that may be assembled for thebusiness user. An aggregation of a view may include information about asingle railcar, a group of railcars associated with a product, acustomer, or a plant manufacturer. This listing is by no means limitingin its scope of possibilities; on the contrary, one skilled in the artmay find more features that could be added. As the amount of informationtransmitted by the Telematics sensor unit 310 of FIG. 2 increases, morecategories of information can be added. Although the management ofassets is the primary thrust, the management of material and morespecifically the management of the inventory of material is the ultimategoal as the railcars do store material and product.

TABLE 3 Views Provided By The Railcar Telematic System 1 Railcar ETAView When tracking railcars, the users may view an Estimated Time ofArrival (ETA) at either the customer destination or for the return ofthe empty railcar to the product manufacturer. This information isavailable from estimates based on historical calculations of the sametrip, and are routinely updated if the railroad experiences delays. Thisinformation assists in making business decisions relative to customerservice and asset utilization at the plant site. 2 Railcar StatusThrough the personalized view of the application, users can see summaryInformational View and detailed information about railcar status fortheir area of responsibility. This information is available inreal-time, and includes relevant information for a particular railcar.This includes all sensor readings from the telematics unit, orderinformation, delivery information, and derived information based onbusiness rules. Railcar status can be viewed through an easy customizedreporting tool, or as part of key alerts triggered by a user's role andpreferences. 3 Site Railcar Statistics Through a different view ofstatus information, users can access real-time View views of allrailcars on a site and their status. This view helps users manage bothrailcars and inventory at various locations on a particular site. 4Inbound Railcar View Users can access real-time views of all railcarsinbound to the site and the status of the railcars. This view helpsusers with several responsibilities such as order demand planning,production planning, on site asset utilization efficiency/planning. 5Railcar Idle-Time View The application will display railcar idle times.Idle times within specific geo-boundaries such as customer location,terminal, rail sidings, plant and storage sites and other in-transitlocations. The business rules may calculate the corresponding demurrageincurred at particular locations where idle times exceed the contractuallimit. 6 Current Product Through role-based reporting views, users areable to see summary Inventory View information about product inventoryin railcars across their area of responsibility. This information isavailable in real-time and may provide an efficient method to viewaccurate inventory levels. 7 KPI View Through role based reportingviews, users are able to see summary information on how the railcaractivities compare to a target KPI. This up-to-date information allowsusers to adjust their focus and/or take corrective actions. KPI's caninclude status, time duration, user defined values, and the number ofrailcars. 8 Fleet Performance Users see role-based summary informationon overall fleet performance. Statistics View This information serves asa key input into the fleet sizing model, providing trip “in-transit” and“hold” times, as well as the standard deviation. 9 Historical SiteStatus Site Logistics users can view critical information such as thenumber of View railcars on site, and the railcar status and location.Users may compare how those statistics have fluctuated/changed overtime. 10 Future Site Projections The application tracks current andhistorical site statistics, including the View location and status ofincoming railcars. With usage/historical information relative to theratio of railcars inbound versus outbound, and real-time data onincoming railcars, the application can provide a projection of futuresite statistics. This information can be used as a planning tool forsite management, as well as an indicator of railcar flow/turn issues. 15View Home Page The application will provide users with a specific homepage customized to their role.

FIG. 7 is a view of an embodiment of an alert page 700. It can bedisplayed when the customer service representative clicks on the alertas mentioned previously. The alert page 700 shows the roundtrip cycle ofthe railcar in the oval 710, an idle alert message 720 stating thereason for the alert, the round trip statistics 730 for this railcar,and the unloading detail 740. The roundtrip cycle 710 displaysinformation regarding the unloading detail that includes the duration ofthe unloading in days. The round trip statistics 730 shows that thequarterly averages for the round trip for the last two quarters were 50and 39 days, respectively. The estimated duration for this trip is 43days with the actual number of days (in parenthesis), 23 days, that haveelapsed since the current trip began. The unloading detail 740 shows thenumber of days that the unloading took for this trip and the averagenumber of days for the quarter.

This view may be tailored to several cars, giving the appropriatedetails for each car and the status of each car and its position in thegraphical representation. Further, a fleet may be represented in such agraph and the cars categorized for the product and the customer thatreceives the respective product. Such a display would show the positionof the railcar in the graphical representation, its load and destinationand the estimated time of arrival. It may be color-coded to furtherillustrate its status.

As FIG. 8 illustrates, the alert was issued because the railcar is idle720 and it has been sitting empty for 5 days. In order to resolve thealert, contact information for the appropriate party has been provided.Rather than provide an alert to the customer service representative, theRailcar Telematics System 100 may provide the alert to the customer.Contacting the customer avoids the unnecessary step of contacting thecustomer service representative until the customer does not respond tothe alert for a predetermined amount of time.

In the round trip cycle 710 portion of FIG. 7, the estimated time forthe trip is listed in the inner radius of the oval. By adding theestimated time for each task in the roundtrip cycle, the estimated timefor a trip cycle should take 40 days. The estimated duration is now 42days. The round trip statistics 730 has been updated because of the 5day idle time experienced by the railcar 300 after unloading. This idletime is of interest to the product manufacturer 139 and the customerservice representative 136 and most likely the customer. As the railcar300 sits, it accrues demurrage charges that will be applied to thecustomer. The idle time is time that a capital asset is not otherwisebeing employed for its intended purpose, thus driving up costs for theproduct manufacturer. To view more detailed information regarding theidle time, the user may drill down in the unloading detail 750.

FIG. 8 illustrates a typical Web Site view 700A that may be displayedwhen the business user drills down for more information regarding theunloading. This view 700A shows three major areas of information. Theoval 710 shows the same round trip parameters as in FIG. 7 and the roundtrip statistics 730. The Unloading Detail 750 is a new feature in thisview and provides the business user with information for the unloadingprocess and how long the unloading process took. In this example, therailcar was tapped on May 7 at approximately 6 PM and the unloading wascompleted on May 9 at approximately 6 PM, making the unload time 2 days.

From the view in FIG. 8, the business user may drill down even furtherto obtain a Trip Weight Report 900 shown in FIG. 9. This weight reportshows the weight of the railcar as it sat empty 910 before loading, thepoint where it was loaded 920, and the weight readings as the railcartraveled down the rail line 930 to the customer. The graph also showsthe time the railcar was unloaded 940 at the customer site. By way ofexample, the report shows when the Telematics Sensing unit 310 on therailcar 300 sent two reports as the railcar 300 was unloading 940.

If the customer service representative desires detailed informationabout the trip, the representative alternatively may drill into the tripportion of the Web Site shown in FIG. 8 to obtain the spreadsheet view1000 of FIG. 10. FIG. 10 is a view 1000 of a spreadsheet displaying thelocation 1010 of each of the RFID sensors and the time 1020 that theRFID tag attached to the railcar passed by the sensor. Also displayed inthis view is the Load weight 1030, the ambient temperature 1040, therailcar temperature 1050, the type of alert 1060, and the alert status1080.

The customer service representative may view aggregations of views,meaning the views may include the fleet, a set of railcars for onecustomer or just one individual railcar 300. The customer servicerepresentative may be able to view the hold patterns, the transit times,the loading and unloading times. In views that are tailored to aparticular user, the user may be able to respond to alerts through theSystem, implementing a change or causing the System to implement achange to a metric of the business rules.

All of the status that the system monitors may be viewed in multipledetailed levels of data and information regarding the status of therailcar 300, the location of the railcar 300 and the status of theproduct. All of the proactive alerts and tasks may be displayed in themultiple levels of detail as well.

As an example, two alerts are shown in FIG. 10. The first alert is animpact alert 1080. The impact alert is sent in response to the railcar300 sustaining a higher than usual impact. The impact may have occurredwhen the train was assembled. Sometimes these impacts damage the carsresulting in higher maintenance costs. In an effort to mitigate thecosts of repair, the time, place and repetitious nature of these impactsare recorded for subsequent compensation and to reduce the freightingcosts. An alert may be recorded by the Telematics Sensing unit 310attached to the railcar 300 and sent at the earliest convenience, if notimmediately upon impact. Alternatively, the railcar's location uponimpact may be derived by the business alert engine 120 based oncommunication from the RFID sensors. The magnitude of the impact to therailcar may also be recorded and available to the business user on theWeb Site 130. A view of an impact detail 1100 is shown in FIG. 11.

In the impact detail view 1100, a graph 1110 shows the magnitude and thedirection of the impacts versus time. The view 1100 shows an ImpactDetail table 1120 displaying the status of the railcar at the time ofthe impact. The table 1120 also lists the loaded weight 1121, theambient temperature 1122, the railcar temperature 1123, the location1124 of the railcar, the direction 1125 in which the car was positionedand the speed 1126 of the railcar at the time of impact.

In some instances the impact can result in a bad-ordered car. Abad-ordered car is a railcar 300, as determined by the railway,requiring repair before the railcar 300 can be used to further transportthe product to the customer. A bad-ordered railcar may require thatanother fully loaded railcar be sent to the intended customer of thebad-ordered railcar. If the product is time-sensitive to degradation, itmay mean that the replacement of the product on the bad-ordered railcaris necessary. This loss of product would be part of any damageassessment resulting from the impact and it may be tracked in the ERPSystem.

It is important to track the impact events as described above in orderto place the actual costs on the responsible party. By tracking thetime, date and location, the owner of the railcar may determine who hadpossession of the railcar 300 at the time of impact. Such damage will beassessed to the responsible party.

In one embodiment, the Railcar Telematics System may be capable oftracking impacts and monitoring seals attached to the hatches andvalves. Emergency and safety personnel dispatched to the scene of theaccident may obtain some information regarding the condition of therailcars and formulate a response scenario. Information transmitted fromthe Telematics Sensor unit 310 may provide information that the railcar300 is not leaking because the railcar 300 weighs the same. TheTelematics Sensor unit 310 may transmit that the impact experienced bythe railcar 300 was not great enough. If the Railcar Telematics system100 creates no proactive alerts for the railcar 300 after such an event,it is an indication that the railcar 300 may not have been involved.This is true where the user can send a status query to the railcar 300and the railcar 300 replies. This information may help responsepersonnel direct their efforts to the more critical aspects of thesituation.

In another example, railcars transporting hazardous materials may bemonitored for leaking valves or hatches. The hatches may have beenopened or otherwise compromised. Compromised means that the governmentrequired safety seal on the hatch was broken. However, a seal on a valveor hatch does not have to be compromised in order for the railcar 300 toleak. A seam in the railcar may have split, leaking product. In such acase the weight of the railcar 300 will decrease over time.

A response to a proactive alert, where the seal indicates that the hatchor valve may be compromised, might be to stop the transport of therailcar 300 if the railcar 300 is traveling into a populated area.Alternatively, if the railcar 300 is near a population center, aresponse to a proactive alert might be the removal of the railcar 300from the populated area. In a heightened state of national security,railcars 300 carrying hazardous materials may be tracked and undercertain heightened restrictions may be located and directed to a commonarea where they may be secured.

Many of the web page views that have been discussed are generallyavailable through a computer terminal screen whether the computer is adesktop or laptop, however the views are not necessarily limited tothese devices. Any device capable of viewing a web page and havingaccess to the Internet may be used download the web page. Such devicesmay include PDAs, television screens and even cell phones that have webcapabilities.

The views described above may even be accessible and presented in aStrategic Decision Center that allows for a large viewing screen whichpermits interaction between the user and the Railcar Telematics System.Such a screen is shown in FIG. 12. The displayed view 1200 has a mapoverlay of the railcars that make up a fleet for a product manufacturer.A feature of using a large screen 1300 is that the screen may providethe user with a “fleet wide” graphical view of all the railcars in thesystem at once. Although not visible, the railcars may be associatedwith a color-code to gauge the status of the individual cars.

The users, by touching the screen, may interact with the display andwhen “drilling down” into a web page may be able to place a view of thenew web page or view alongside the previous view. FIG. 13 shows a view1300 of the screen where a satellite view is superimposed over the mapof the United States. As more information is required, the user may beable to display any of the views, which were described earlier, so thatthe multiple web pages are displayed on the screen at once. Such a view1400 of the embodiment is shown in FIG. 14.

In one implementation, the user may be able to stream real-time videoalongside the data on the touch screen. The real-time video mayoriginate from a security camera in a rail yard, a customer site or fromthe product manufacturer's facility. Another feature of the screen isthat a video conference can be staged and the users at both locationsmay interactively participate by manipulating the data while discussingstrategy and tactics. As the data is spread out across the screen,different users may bring up views of various screens that have linkeddata between the screens. The multiple screens may provide theopportunity to discuss several different scenarios in a conference roomsetting.

It is therefore intended that the foregoing detailed description beregarded as illustrative rather than limiting, and that it be understoodthat it is the following claims, including all equivalents, that areintended to define the spirit and scope of this invention.

We claim:
 1. A method for monitoring a container valve or hatch, themethod comprising: receiving, from one or more sensors, data including atime and a location of a container and a condition of a seal of a valveor hatch on the container; determining whether the condition of the sealof the valve or hatch on the container indicates that the seal of thevalve or hatch on the container has been compromised; and in response toa determination that the seal of the valve or hatch on the container hasbeen compromised: evaluating, with respect to a metric, the location ofthe container at the time when the condition of the seal of the valve orhatch on the container indicates that the seal of the valve or hatch onthe container has been compromised; determining an action to be takenrelated to the compromised seal of the valve or hatch on the container,based on evaluating, with respect to the metric, the location of thecontainer at the time when the condition of the seal of the valve orhatch on the container indicates that the seal of the valve or hatch onthe container has been compromised against the metric; and issuing aproactive alert.
 2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:identifying a product associated with the container; identifying one ofa customer, a sales representative, a bill of lading, or a facilityassociated with the container; determining whether the product requiresspecial handling; and providing a notification that the product requiresspecial handling to the one of a customer, a sales representative, abill of lading, and a facility associated with the container, when theproactive alert is issued.
 3. The method of claim 2, wherein determiningwhether the product requires special handling comprises determiningwhether the product includes a hazardous material.
 4. The method ofclaim 1, further comprising providing the data in a historical form, insummary form and in graphical form showing the location of the containeron a map when the proactive alert is issued.
 5. The method of claim 1,further comprising: sensing, using at least one of the one or moresensors, a condition of a seal on the valve or hatch; and determiningwhether the condition of the seal has changed, based on sensing thecondition of a seal on the valve or hatch.
 6. The method of claim 1,wherein the container is a railcar.
 7. The method of claim 1, whereinthe data comprises a weight of the container and the metric comprises anexpected weight of the container at the time when the condition of theseal of the valve or hatch on the container indicates that the seal ofthe valve or hatch on the container has been compromised.
 8. The methodof claim 1, wherein the proactive alert comprises instructions to stoptransport of the container.
 9. The method of claim 1, wherein theproactive alert comprises instructions to transport the container to anarea where it may be secured.
 10. The method of claim 1, wherein theproactive alert comprises an alert that the container has impactedanother container at an unacceptable speed.
 11. The method of claim 1,further comprising: in response to a determination that the seal of thevalve or hatch on the container has not been compromised: determiningthat the weight of the container has been decreasing over time while thecontainer is moving; and in response to determining that the weight ofthe container has been decreasing over time while the container ismoving: evaluating the location of the container; determining an actionto be taken related to the decreasing weight of the container withrespect to the location of the container; and issuing a proactive alert.12. A system comprising: one or more sensors; at least one processor;and at least one computer-readable storage medium encoded withexecutable instructions that, when executed by the at least oneprocessor, cause the at least one processor to perform operationscomprising: receiving, from the one or more sensors, data including atime and a location of a container and a condition of a seal of a valveor hatch on the container; determining whether the condition of the sealof the valve or hatch on the container indicates that the seal of thevalve or hatch on the container has been compromised; and in response toa determination that the seal of the valve or hatch on the container hasbeen compromised: evaluating, with respect to a metric, the location ofthe container at the time when the condition of the seal of the valve orhatch on the container indicates that the seal of the valve or hatch onthe container has been compromised; determining an action to be takenrelated to the compromised seal of the valve or hatch on the container,based on evaluating, with respect to the metric, the location of thecontainer at the time when the condition of the seal of the valve orhatch on the container indicates that the seal of the valve or hatch onthe container has been compromised against the metric; and issuing aproactive alert.
 13. The system of claim 12, wherein the operationsfurther comprise: identifying a product associated with the container;identifying one of a customer, a sales representative, a bill of lading,or a facility associated with the container; determining whether theproduct requires special handling; and providing a notification that theproduct requires special handling to the one of a customer, a salesrepresentative, a bill of lading, and a facility associated with thecontainer, when the proactive alert is issued.
 14. The system of claim13, wherein determining whether the product requires special handlingcomprises determining whether the product includes a hazardous material.15. The system of claim 12, wherein the operations further compriseproviding the data in a historical form, in summary form and ingraphical form showing the location of the container on a map when theproactive alert is issued.
 16. The system of claim 12, wherein theoperations further comprise: sensing, using at least one of the one ormore sensors, a condition of a seal on the valve or hatch; anddetermining whether the condition of the seal has changed, based onsensing the condition of a seal on the valve or hatch.
 17. The system ofclaim 12, wherein the container is a railcar.
 18. The system of claim12, wherein the data comprises a weight of the container and the metriccomprises an expected weight of the container at the time when thecondition of the seal of the valve or hatch on the container indicatesthat the seal of the valve or hatch on the container has beencompromised.
 19. The system of claim 12, wherein the proactive alertcomprises instructions to stop transport of the container.
 20. Thesystem of claim 12, wherein the proactive alert comprises instructionsto transport the container to an area where it may be secured.
 21. Thesystem of claim 12, wherein the proactive alert comprises an alert thatthe container has impacted another container at an unacceptable speed.22. The system of claim 12, wherein the operations further comprise: inresponse to a determination that the seal of the valve or hatch on thecontainer has not been compromised: determining that the weight of thecontainer has been decreasing over time while the container is moving;and in response to determining that the weight of the container has beendecreasing over time while the container is moving: evaluating thelocation of the container; determining an action to be taken related tothe decreasing weight of the container with respect to the location ofthe container; and issuing a proactive alert.
 23. A computer storagemedium encoded with a computer program, the program comprisinginstructions that when executed by one or more computers cause the oneor more computers to perform operations comprising: receiving, from oneor more sensors, data including a time and a location of a container anda condition of a seal of a valve or hatch on the container; determiningwhether the condition of the seal of the valve or hatch on the containerindicates that the seal of the valve or hatch on the container has beencompromised; and in response to a determination that the seal of thevalve or hatch on the container has been compromised: evaluating, withrespect to a metric, the location of the container at the time when thecondition of the seal of the valve or hatch on the container indicatesthat the seal of the valve or hatch on the container has beencompromised; determining an action to be taken related to thecompromised seal of the valve or hatch on the container, based onevaluating, with respect to the metric, the location of the container atthe time when the condition of the seal of the valve or hatch on thecontainer indicates that the seal of the valve or hatch on the containerhas been compromised against the metric; and issuing a proactive alert.